Method of treating vegetable textile fiber.



' in indicating il'l llll r ii To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADOLEHE EUGENE MARIE Rousseau, of Paris, France, have 'invented a certain new and useful Method of Treating Vegetable Textile Fibers, which invention is fully set forth in the following specification.

After the operation of stripping or scutching, which has the result of separatingthe stalk or ligneous bark which surrounds the filaments of flax and hemp which are there by brought to the condition of tow, these filaments are still surrounded by a resinous and colored substance from which they are freed by a series of liXiviating-and bleaching operations.

In the processes hitherto adopted lixiviating with soda or other alkaline reagents precedes the chlorinating, that is to say the bleaching with the decoloring chlorids.

The principle of this invention consists broadly in inverting the order of these operations and in beginning with the bleaching and in then subjecting the textile fibers to a series of operations the object oi? which is to further bleach them and render them more silky and of a high degree of tenuity, in keeping them ready to be subjected to the operation of combing and then to that of spinning under the best conditions.

The inventor has been led to devise this novel process by noticing-,tliatif textile fibers are bleached before unguinming them by means or" the lye, the decoloration. and the bleaching are effected equally well and present the advantage of refining and bleaching the gummy or resinous substances which surround the fiber, and which may thus be collected and placed. on the market without further treatment for the purposes for which these materials may be adapted. Having' explained this, the operations which COQS'CI tute the novel process will now be described, the composition of the baths in which the fioers to be treated should be iinnersed successively,

base of decolori'ng chlorid composed in'the following manner is employed :-In 100 liters of water at the ordinary temperature er the open air, about 5 liters of a liquid having a density of 0.907 is added, this'liquid being obtained by dissolving: (a) 10 kgs. of chic-- rid of lime associated with carbonate of lime in accordance with the OTHla,

s a lSS H616! 61168 mrnon 0F TREATDIG VEGETABLE TEXTILE- FEE Specification of Letters l'zatent,

Application filed Butcher 19, 19%.

added: (a) sullite of soda (SO Na serial his, OCl l CaCl, and Gai /{3 in 120 liters of water. (5)) l2 kgs. of carbonate ofpotasn K CO, dissolved in 40 liters of water at 100. Thesetwo solutions (a) and (1)) are Search Room combined and form the bath in which the,

textile fibers in the condition of tow, flair, hemp, ramie, etc., are steeped, leaving them there until the appearance of bleaching is hoticeable. Instead of a chlorin'bath, oxygenated water or ozone may be employed as deicolorin agent. The inventor has found that the decoloring action penetrates as far as the fiber and is atthe same tin e cxerted; 2-

upon the gummy or resinous porti surrounds it.

The textile fibers thus bleached, are then immersed in another recept'aele'jcon taining a. bath of water to "which hasfibeen which in suliicient quantity for neutralizin th no tion of the first bath; and 30% of th of the textile tow to be. treated of "pound obtained inaccordance with the following forrnulaz-(d) 3O kgs. of a soap formed of 28 parts of margarin, 72 parts of olein combined with r kgsgot carbonate of:

soda l la O and 45.5 kgs. of water. In order to obviate the repetition of this long chemical forniula, whieh will again be enrployed, the soap which it represents is hereinafter designated bytheiletter S. The temperature of this grease-removing bath so composed is that ofthe surrounding atmosphere. The duration of the immersion of the textiles in this bath is about 1 hour.

7 3. A fresh elimination of grease is then efiected, this time with the employment of heat in a bath composed of water to which is added the said soap S in the pro ortion-of 50% of the weight of the texti e treated. The temperature of the bath is raised progressively to a temperature of from to C. It is maintainedat this temperature for a period or 2 to 4 hourse' After this operation the fibers are subjected to a second p 1 rinsing in clean water which is at first hot. 1. The fiI'St OPGI'ELtIOII, as stated above, is the bleaching Preferably a bath having a 7 insoluble, has'not been removed by the preceding operations.- The ungu'mming bath is composed of water to whichthere are added: (f) Thesaid soap -S in the proportion -of I (g) Bi-sulfite of soda (ll'aHQSOQ, 3%;of the textile. (h) Car- 5 of the textile.

i air if possible.

bonate of soda Na CO 2% of the textile. The temperature of the bath is the surround ing temperature and the duration of the immersion there is from two to four hours. It isfollowed by athird rinsin in water. a 5.. The. treatment is com leted by immersing the textile fibers in a ath of water, to which thereis added (2') Amylaceticether in the proportion of 1% of the textile. ,The immersion takes-,piace at the surrounding temperature and-s ould last for two hours. The. efl'ectojf the amylacetie ether is to impurtto the textile fibers a luster or brilliancy, which makes; them silky,' and to render soluble the last insoluble portions of the res- "inous coating. On leaving this bath the terial is rinsed in cold water at the surding temperature.

ter these "arious operations, the drained extile fibers are laced to dry, in;the open hen once it is'dry, the

textile is ready for combin and it'furnishes exoeedingly white fibers, w ich are silky and of great strength, so that it is possible to obtainthe finest threads immediately in Spinning, the count 200 for example and beg J looses? yond, with a greateryield and an economy of time and a reduction in the cost price s a ering to the fibers after bleachlng, by

means of a sulfite-containing soap); subjecting the fibers so treated to a soap ath; then to an ungumming bath containing hyposulfite of soda, an alkali carbonate and soap; and finally to aqueous bath containing amylacetic ether,

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 4th day of October 1906, in

the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ADOLPHE EUGENE MARIE ROUSSEAU.

Witnesses IIAN SON C. Coxn, @ABRIEL BEnLmR 1). 

